Will you be at the EurBee 11 conference in Bologna, from 7 to 10 September? We will be there, and the Apisfero team is presenting an update on Tropilaelaps.
Tropi Alarm: AI-powered non-invasive monitoring of Tropilaelaps mites in honey bee colonies
Gianluca Francini, Apisfero APS
Session S10, Technological applications for the bee science and bee-based monitoring
Sala Italia, Wednesday 9 September 2026, 11:30
For almost ten years BeeVS, our Bee Varroa Scanner, has been photographing sticky monitoring sheets from hive bottom trays and counting the Varroa on them.
We have now adapted it to Tropilaelaps, a mite about one third the size of a varroa and much harder to see with the naked eye.
The scanner takes the images and a neural network recognises and counts the mites, so the hive is never opened. In Bologna we will show how accurate it is.
If you are not coming to Bologna, this is what we are preparing. It is called Tropi Alarm EU, a sentinel network for Tropilaelaps across Europe.
We are looking for partners and possible funders: beekeepers, beekeepers’ associations, research institutes, veterinary services and anyone who would like to work on this. We saw what Varroa became. This time the mite is still outside Europe, and that is when a surveillance network has to be built.
First confirmed outbreak in Türkiye (Artvinprovince, near the Georgian border), reported to World Organisationfor Animal Health on 31 August 2026.
What we want to do is take the proposal to European decision makers and ask for the funding to set up sentinel sites in every EU country, and right now we are collecting names.
If you would like to add yours, fill in the short form or scan the QRcode.
See you in Bologna, or in the autumn by email.
The Apisfero team
